The Christmas holidays are a magical time.  Everything comes together— family dinners, cards from far away friends, calls and visits from loved ones, beautiful music, and delicious food.  We want everything to be perfect. But often it’s not.  Things don’t always turn out the way we expect.  Someone’s late for dinner, your son has a fender bender, you burned the coffee cake—there are dozens of little annoyances that are bound to happen even during the best of times.  How to cope?  Take a tip from the British.  When things go wrong, they say, “let’s have some tea.”

I was never much of a tea drinker until the covid-19  pandemic started last March.  The weather was still cold,  and we were all a bit panicky and depressed.  All of a sudden, I had a craving for tea.   As the days wore on and the virus continued to spread, I started heating the water in the late afternoon, and sitting down to sip a cup of  hot tea.  It was more soothing than I had ever expected.  It also gave me a little lift —not the jolt you get from your morning coffee, just a feeling of calm and clarity.

The history of tea dates back over 5,000 years ago to ancient China. In 2732 B.C. Emperor Shen Nung discovered tea when leaves from a wild tree blew into a  pot of water he was boiling .  He enjoyed  the pleasant scent of the resulting brew and  described a warm feeling as he drank the tea.

Besides giving you a boost of energy, tea also has other health benefits. According to Harvard Health, it’s an anti inflammatory which may reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke. It also boosts memory and may prevent cognitive decline.  Drinking tea after a meal reduces blood sugar levels, which is helpful for those with Type 2 diabetes.

There are various types of teas.  Green tea is preferred by many, and is supposed to have more health benefits. Personally, I prefer black tea with a little bit of honey.  The next time something goes wrong, and everyone’s feeling stressed, you might suggest “let’s have some tea.”